Best Foot Forward Analysis

So far, in the book Best foot forward by Joan Bauer, Jenna finds out that Mrs. Gladstones greedy son, the head of the company, was hiding the fact that the shoes were being produced in a sweatshop and the people making the shoes were children working in terrible conditions and only making $1.20 an hour. Soon, the public finds out and Elden, Mrs. Gladstone’s son, wants to tell the public that the children working in the sweatshop are lucky to even make any money, but Mrs. Gladstone had another idea. Mrs. Gladstone has Jenna and Tanner hold back Elden as she marches outside and tells everyone protesting the company after the scandal that they will donate money to the kids, give them a month off work with better pay, and donate the shoes the
Gladstone was to help the children working in the Thailand sweatshop and announce to the angry public that she did not know about the sweatshop and that Gladstone shoes does not mistreat their employees. Making a statement to the public about this had a good consequence because the customers of Gladstone shoes felt that they were supporting a good company with a good cause and the company name was cleared after all of the bad publicity. “By the time I got to work, the newscasters had picked up the story and posters were in front of the store with signs proclaiming, HUMAN RIGHTS FIRST… ‘Elden is suggesting we say,’ she read from the paper,’The Shoe Warehouse and Gladstone Shoes are fully investigating these allegations. No one in our company was aware of any human rights violations in any factory at any time. We are proud of our contribution in the shoe industry and will continue to maintain our standard of excellence throughout the world.’Are you going to say that?’ ‘No, I’m not’”(Bauer 163-4). Elden wanted to tell the public something very professional and not personal about the illegal activity, but he had no empathy for the people in the sweatshop, and only about the company's money. Mrs. Gladstone made the choice to tell the public that she is very sorry and that they will donate and help the children, showing the consumers that the company isn’t all about money and can help others who are less fortunate. She stood up to Elden even though he is the